Two child molesters sent to prison

Judge tells defendants their actions will have lingering effects.

Judge tells defendants their actions will have lingering effects.

January 09, 2008|DEBRA HAIGHT Tribune Correspondent

NILES -- Children who are molested are robbed of their innocence and peace, Berrien County Trial Judge Scott Schofield told two convicted child molesters Monday. In the first case, Taurean James-Henry Gray, 24, of Wilmington, Calif., was sentenced to 23 to 60 months in prison for attempted first-degree criminal sexual conduct, molesting an 8-year-old girl left in his care when he lived in Niles in 2003. The girl's father told Schofield that his daughter, now 14, continues to be scared and doesn't want to be alone in her bedroom. Assistant Prosecutor Kelly Travis said Gray took advantage of a situation where he acted as a caretaker for the young girl and other children, meeting their bus and watching over them until their parents came home. Gray said he couldn't change what happened, but could promise never to come back into the family's life. "You have to start thinking about it as something you did, not something that happened," Schofield told Gray. "It was your bad choices that caused this to happen. "You robbed this young lady of something very precious, you robbed her of her innocence and her chance to have a healthy romantic relationship in the future," the judge said. "You'll get out of prison, but she and her family will still be suffering. I hope you realize what a devastating impact your actions have had on this young lady. The effects will last well into the future ... all because of your desire to gratify yourself." Gray was given credit for 95 days already served and ordered to pay $420 in fines and costs as well as the $3,258 it cost to extradite him from California. In the other case, Jason Kirk Erickson, 36, of Berrien Springs, was sentenced to 18 to 60 months in prison for attempted first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a female age 13 to 15. That incident occurred Sept. 21 in Berrien Springs. Travis said Erickson didn't use force in the molestation of the victim but was responsible as the adult in the situation. Erickson said he would never take such an action again and blamed the incident on having too much to drink. "It was a betrayal of trust in one of the most extreme ways," Schofield said. "You robbed something very precious from the victim, her innocence and peace and ability to form a healthy romantic relationship. The effects of your behavior will last a long time." Erickson was given credit for 52 days already served and ordered to pay $420 in fines and costs.